Welcome to the Daily Grace podcast. Here at the Daily Grace Co, our mission is to equip

disciples in the Word. We believe that deep Bible study and rich theology are not just for

the seminary student or pastor, but they are accessible for all believers. We hope these conversations

will invite you into a deeper relationship with the Lord

and to remind you that the gospel changes everything.

Welcome back to the Daily Grace podcast.

My name is Crystal and during the month of December, we will be focusing on the four main themes of Advent,

hope, peace, joy, and love.

The word Advent means coming or arrival, and it is the four-week season leading up to Christmas

that helps us to focus on Jesus' first coming, and it also helps us look forward to his second.

So today we are highlighting the theme of joy.

Throughout this episode, we're going to see

joy promised in scripture. We're to see how Jesus fulfills this promise and how he promises joy

for us today. Our main passage comes from Micah 5 verse 2. It says, Bethlehem Ephrotha, you are small

among the clan of Judah. One will come from you to be ruler over

Israel for me. His origin is romantically from ancient times. This passage may not sound like it has

immediate connections to Advent, so let's break this down together. Micah was one of the Old

Testament prophets, and in this verse he is prophesying about a future

king and what his role will be. Micah mentions Bethlehem, the place where Jesus was born.

And Bethlehem's one claim to fame was that it was the birthplace of Israel's greatest king,

King David. But other than that, it was small and it was insignificant. Among the other towns in

Israel, Bethlehem may have seemed like an unlikely place for the Messiah to be born. Compared to more

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